CM seeks upgradation of national highways of Punjab

July 17, 2017 04:18 AM

Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday sought Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari's intervention in expediting approvals pending before his ministry, to upgrade two-lane national highways to four or six lanes.

CM wants to upgrade these two-lane highways in the districts of Ferozpur, Mansa, Muktsar and Fazilka to four or six lanes, whose approvals are pending with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said an official statement.

Amarinder also sought formal notification of the Khanna-Malerkotla-RaikotJagraon-Nakodar and Banga-Garhshankar-Anandpur Sahib road as new national highways, for which the Centre has given an in principle approval.

The chief minister also asked for the four-lane projects to be handed over to the state PWD, which have the competence to work on the implementation of NH works. At present, Punjab PWD is being headed by three-time MLA and cabinet minister Razia Sultana. The new highway projects are billed as showpiece by the Congress government to woo investment. The updgradation of Talwandi-Ferozpur and Muktsar-Malout section is also on the radar.

In a letter to Gadkari, the CM said only four of Punjab's 22 districts are still connected with the two-lane national highways, while the rest are already linked to four or six-lane national highways.

CM wants to upgrade these two-lane highways in the districts of Ferozpur, Mansa, Muktsar and Fazilka to four or six lanes, whose approvals are pending with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said an official statement.

He further urged the ministry to resolve the pending issues related to four-laning of Ludhiana-Talwandi Bhai section of NH-95, for which work started in March, 2012 on a PPP model (public-private partnership), but subsequently stopped.“The suspension of work was causing a lot of inconvenience to the people,“ he said.